by Lorelei Cohen

Created on: June 29, 2007   Last Updated: October 27, 2009

If you just can't resist that beef hamburger, steak, chicken, or pork chops, then do it right. Grilling your food rather than frying it will prevent a tremendous amount of extra fat and calories from going into your evening meal. Grilling your protein fare allows the fat to seep out, and away from your meat, rather than having it stew within it. This means less fat, less calories, and a much healthier meal for you.

The human body does require some fat within it's diet, but this is a specific type of fat, and generally not the saturated or transfats found within meat products. The desirable Omega 3 fats that your body needs are generally found in food sources such as flax seed, walnuts, olive oil, or fatty fish like tuna, herring and salmon. As most of us do still enjoy other fat containing meats, we just have to learn ways to restrict the amount of these that we eat, or cook them in a manner that limits that amount of fat that we consume from them.

Always prepare your meat before cooking it by trimming off excess fat. Some cuts of meat can have up to an inch of fat along their outer edges and that is a lot of unnecessary fat to place onto your dinner plate. If you are cooking pork chops, or chicken, plan to slow cook these fattier meats to allow time for all that extra grease to seep out of them. If you want these meats to have a crispy outer surface, you can always turn the heat up at the end of your cooking time, and sear them then.

Keep your seasonings as low fat as possible. Using spices rather than sauces can make a tremendous difference to the overall fat within your meal. Many sauces can add a ton of calories and fat to your meal so keep the seasons simple. Depending on your choice of meat, select garlic powder, hot cayane pepper, steak spice, ginger, or salt and pepper. Zero calorie sauces such as Tabasco sauce, mustard, and lemon or lime juice are zero calorie sauces that can be either sprinkled onto your meat or mixed within in to add flavor.

A satisfying meal will mean that you enjoy the experience more and subsequently actually eat less. So make your meal a delightful and delicious dining experience.

One of the most pleasurable things about grilling dinner is the aroma of your cooking meal. The smell of a good steak sizzling on a hot grill can smell like pure heaven. You can really torture yourself with this one. A painful pleasure so to speak. Watch those juices drip out and with each little pshhhhhhhhh that you hear, know that you have prevented

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